Dom Giordano Talks With Former Congressman Allen West About Pat Tillman’s Death, 10 Years Ago

Arlington National Cemetery, UNITED STATES: (FILES): This 25 March 2005 file photo shows a portrait of US Marine Cpl. Patrick Tillman (R), former American football player for the Arizona Cardinals, part of an exhibit at Arlington National Cemetery showing 1,300 portraits of US troops who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Pentagon investigation is to recommend that nine officers, including four generals, be held accountable for missteps and inappropriate conduct in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of in Afghanistan in 2004, US Defense department officials said 23 March 2007. AFP PHOTO/ FILES/ Paul J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

This March 2005 file photo shows a portrait of US Marine Cpl. Patrick Tillman (R), former American football player for the Arizona Cardinals, part of an exhibit at Arlington National Cemetery showing 1,300 portraits of US troops who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo credit PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Dom Giordano talked to former Congressman Allen West today (Monday, 4/21) on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about the ten-year anniversary of the death of Pat Tillman.

Tillman was a football player with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL, who quit to join the army following 9/11.

Cluck below to listen to the podcast…

Former Congressman Allen West

“The fog of war, as [Carl von] Clausewitz talked about, can be so amazing. When I was a young captain in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm we had an incident in the First Infantry Division where the attack helicopter battalion commander…engaged two vehicles that he thought were Iraqi, but ended up being American vehicles. When you’re in that desert environment, it’s very confusing. You can get these pitch black nights and it’s hard to distinguish,” he said.

He called Tillman a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation.

“Pat Tillman is the embodiment of the Minute Men that answered the call at Lexington and Concord. He answered the call of his country. He took off a pro football helmet and put on a helmet of different type, that of an Army Ranger,” West stated.

West also questioned whether the conflict can ever be resolved.

“When you look at how long we’ve been engaged with Afghanistan, since 2001, it makes you believe, do we have the right strategy? Is nation building and occupation style warfare the best suited for our military? I would tell you no,” he commented.

He suggested using shorter and more limited raids to accomplish specific military objectives and also limiting the amount of time troops spend in combat zones.

“You identify the enemy. You identify their sanctuary. You identify their means of resourcing at a strategic level and that’s how you try to really isolate them and cut them off from their funding streams. Everyone right now thinks the drone attack is the sexy thing, but sometimes, as we saw with Osama bin Laden’s death, we have to take those opportunities to use our capabilities and our maneuverabilities…I’m not in to going in and saying we have to rebuild,” West said.